Commute, Palm Springs to Riverside: Yay or Nay? (Moreno Valley, Palm Desert: spring break, home)

[Plantweed]

Google Maps says it's about an hour. Is that realistic during rush hour? There's more work in my field (graphic design) in that area, yet we want to live in Palm Springs. Thoughts from locals?

[Gandalara]

Not realistic IMO.

Just east of the junction of the 60/215 (Moreno Valley) and traveling west to Riverside is a traffic nightmare in the AM. Scratch that - a traffic nightmare almost at any time.
Coming back is the same in that section.
Can't answer for the traffic in Riverside itself.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by Plantweed

Google Maps says it's about an hour. Is that realistic during rush hour? There's more work in my field (graphic design) in that area, yet we want to live in Palm Springs. Thoughts from locals?

No. I used to live in PS. Any time the wind blows, many of the major routes out of PS towards I-10 close due to blowing dust and sand. My co-workers who lived above I-10 always seemed to be detoured around some road closure.

[Gurbie]

Originally Posted by Plantweed

Google Maps says it's about an hour. Is that realistic during rush hour? There's more work in my field (graphic design) in that area, yet we want to live in Palm Springs. Thoughts from locals?

Traffic will be heavy both ways, but it's "doable". Expect 70-90 mins to cover the 60 miles.

If everything else clicked (you find a home in PS and a job in Riverside), I wouldn't let the commute be a deal-breaker.

On the otherhand, Riverside has some great neighborhoods ( and PS has some s$&@tty ones), so keep an open mind about where to live. You can always visit PS on the weekends.

[Plantweed]

Thanks for the input. The goal is to get work in the Coachella Valley, but I'll take what I can find, and make that long commute if I have to.

[MamaRed]

We lived in PS, and two of our kids attended Riverside Community College. If you can get a slightly off-hour schedule, it can be done in 45 minutes, depending on where you start and stop. The wind can be an issue, but more often than not Indian and Gene Autry are closed, not 111, which would be the exit that drops you directly into PS. I think the longest it ever took any of us was 90 minutes, and that was rush hour, accidents, and road construction.

I'd think you could probably find something in the desert. Things slow down considerably from about May-August. A lot of smaller companies don't hire going into the summer months, but it's still possible.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by MamaRed

We lived in PS, and two of our kids attended Riverside Community College. If you can get a slightly off-hour schedule, it can be done in 45 minutes, depending on where you start and stop. The wind can be an issue, but more often than not Indian and Gene Autry are closed, not 111, which would be the exit that drops you directly into PS. I think the longest it ever took any of us was 90 minutes, and that was rush hour, accidents, and road construction.

Good point about 111 vs. the other ways into PS. I will note that when I was in PS, my co-workers who drove in from Banning and Beaumont were more likely to get stalled by some car wreck on 111 than from blowing schmutz. People always drive that curvy stretch of 111 way too quickly.

(I know you were there for a while because you referred to the street as "Indian" and not "Indian Canyon"!)

[MamaRed]

Originally Posted by rah62

(I know you were there for a while because you referred to the street as "Indian" and not "Indian Canyon"!)

Haha! Good catch. My family moved there in '74, when I was a little girl. I only moved away last spring. The Westfield mall in Palm Desert will always be the "new" mall to me. Indian and Tahquitz both had "Canyon" added in an attempt to promote the downtown area with a "Shop the Canyons" campaign. The only time I ever ran into a back-up on 111 was spring break '86, driving home from college.

[billstone]

I live in PS and commute to Riverside. Moreno Valley and Riverside 60/215 interchange are hell! I'm trying to find another job it's so bad.